Towards Inclusive Learning Environments (TILE): Developing the ‘Roadmap for the Inclusion of Students with Special Educational Needs in Vocational Education and Workplace Settings’

Twenty years after UNESCO's Salamanca Statement enshrined international action for provision for children, youth and adults with special educational needs within the regular educational system, this article presents the current underpinning international and national UK context for developing inclusion in vocational education and training and workplace settings. This context is explored through the justification for developing an EU‐funded project entitled ‘Towards Inclusive Learning Environments (TILE)’ and the creation of an associated audit tool, the ′Roadmap for Inclusion′, by a partnership group consisting of universities and VET settings from Finland, the Czech Republic, Estonia and England.     

Appraising research policy instrument mixes: a multicriteria mapping study in six European countries of diagnostic innovation to manage antimicrobial resistance

This article provides prospective appraisal of key policy instruments intended to stimulate innovation to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR). AMR refers to the ability of microbes to evolve resistance to those treatments designed to kill them, and is associated with the overuse or misuse of medicines such as antibiotics. AMR is an emerging global challenge with major implications for healthcare and society as a whole. Diagnostic tests for infectious diseases can guide decision making when prescribing medicines, so reducing inappropriate drug use. In the context of growing international interest in policies to stimulate innovation in AMR diagnostics, this study uses multicriteria mapping (MCM) to appraise a range of policy instruments in order to understand their potential performance while also highlighting the uncertainties that stakeholders hold about such interventions in complex contexts. A contribution of the article is the demonstration of a novel method to analyse and visualise MCM data in order to reveal stakeholder inclinations towards particular options while exploring interviewees’ uncertainties about the effectiveness of each instrument's design or implementation. The article reports results from six European countries (Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK). The findings reveal which policy instruments are deemed most likely to perform well, and why, across stakeholder groups and national settings, with areas of common ground and difference being identified. Importantly, the conclusions presented here differ from prominent policy discourse, with international implications for the design of mixes of policy instruments to combat AMR. Strategic and practical methodological implications also emerge for general appraisal of innovation policy instrument mixes.     

Gaining from interactions with universities: Multiple methods for nurturing absorptive capacity

This paper examines the various methods through which firms benefit from interactions with universities, arguing that such benefits are instrumental in nurturing the multiple facets of a firm's absorptive capacity. We bring together data collected from a survey of UK firms that collaborated with universities, and firm-level data on past partnerships with universities. The results show that benefits from interactions with universities are multifaceted, including enhancement of the firm's explorative and exploitative capabilities. Results also indicate that firms’ R&D commitments, geographical proximity to and research quality of university partners have a distinct impact on the different types of benefits from interactions with universities. We find geographical proximity is crucial for assessing problem-solving as an important benefit, while interactions with top quality universities have a positive influence on the benefits associated with firms’ downstream activities. We discuss the implications of these findings for research and policy.     

Hope communication as a predictor of documented and undocumented Latina/o high school students’ college intentions across an academic year

Drawing from hope theory, we examined whether hope communication predicted undocumented and documented U.S. Latina/o youth’s college intentions across an academic year. With three waves of survey data from 172 documented and 253 undocumented Latina/o high school students, auto-regressive cross-lagged analyses revealed that parent, teacher, and friend hope communication at the beginning of the year indirectly increased students’ college intentions by the end of the year. A trend emerged whereby undocumented students reported significantly less hope communication and weaker college intentions than documented students within most of the waves. Our findings suggest that hope communication has the potential to increase the educational, economic, and social mobility of Latina/o immigrant students by increasing their intentions to attend college.     

Audio Engagement and Learning

ABSTRACT

Sound effects and music can be used to complement instructional narrations in recorded media presentations. College students (n = 143) participated in a study examining the effects of music and sound effects on learning outcomes when compared to voice-only narration. Four groups of participants listened to a recorded short story and answered questions about the story. The control group’s story was a voice-only narration. The three treatment groups’ story was enhanced with one of the following: sound effects, music, or a combination of sound effects and music. Means for each group were not significantly different, and the difference of means between and within each of the groups was also found not to be significant. The results indicated that the presence of sound effects and music in an audio-only presentation did not significantly increase or decrease learning.     

Do those who benefit the most need it the least? A four-year experiment in enquiry-based feedback

The aim of this paper is to report on an ongoing experiment in an enquiry-based approach to feedback. Over the course of four years, almost 1800 students have studied a final-year undergraduate module involving a mid-term assignment and end of module examination. Feedback on the assignment is delivered through a process which involves the provision of feedback resources and action planning rather than any individualised comments on the piece of work. The results of the experiment to date suggests that this approach to feedback can have a positive effect on student performance as they make the transition from formative assignment to summative examination but that the main beneficiaries of that performance improvement are students who did well in the assignment rather that students who had average or poor performance.     

Transitioning to E-books: Usage and Attitudes Among Business Faculty

The authors discuss declining usage of print collections in business disciplines and describe a survey of business faculty conducted in fall 2009. Results indicate a preference for print books but a willingness to substitute e-books. Using these results, this article outlines reasons for faculty preferences and implications for future collection development.     

Empowering or disabling? Emotional reactions to assessment amongst part-time adult students

This article focuses on emotional reactions to learning and assessment. It draws on a qualitative research project involving first-generation adult students on a foundation degree programme. Endorsing the notion of emotional reactions as situated in participants' lived power relations, we map out emotional patterns to Semester 1 and then explore in more detail, participants' particular emotional reactions to assessment. We found three key themes: higher education assessment as an unknown risk; assessment success ‘out of the blue’ and assessment as trauma and euphoria. A major aspect of the project was to offer socially constructed pedagogic developments in response to these themes and nurture emotion as positive energy for transformation.     

Machines to Think With? E-books,Kindles and English Teachers,the Much Prophesied Death of the Book Revisited

English teachers have a particular professional interest in developing their students as readers and this includes a very strong emphasis on literature. They are personal and professional enthusiasts for books and in the past have shown anxieties about threats to the book from computers and portable devices. The advent of e-readers, like the Kindle, brings a new dynamic to the field of reading with many teachers becoming enthusiastic users of such devices. This article reports on a research project examining the personal and professional attitudes of English teachers towards e-readers and seeking their views on their pedagogical implications. The project used an online survey and follow-up telephone interviews; this article focuses on the latter. Findings suggest some reservations but overall a strong enthusiasm for e-readers both personally and professionally and a definite conviction that such readers will be important in schools in the future.